Guest post: A take on Tower Hamlets by a “despairing” ex-councillor

The following is a guest post by Nigel McCollum, who was a Liberal Democrat councillor in Bow East from 2002 until 2006.

I was a Liberal Democrat councillor for Bow East for one term, so have some minimal insight into the way politics seem to be played out in this borough, and frankly it is getting worse and I despair. I am still asked to take up casework for residents and pass it on to current elected councillors, so I do hope I still have some feel for what the issues are that matter.

For me, what mattered most as a councillor was the grass roots casework – being the ‘scissors’ that assisted those unable to assist themselves in cutting through the masses of frustrating red tape. The “Politics” of the borough was a turn off then, and is a turn off now. Yes I was lured into the machinations of the seemingly exciting Machiavellian gossip and power bases around the Town Hall. But now I recognise this was and is a fundamental problem.

There is an unhealthy “chattering class” from all shades of the political spectrum, and even political online blogs are I believe a symptom of this. On the streets, across the borough, the overwhelming majority of people are totally disengaged, and this is reflected in their knowledge, or rather lack of, about what the Council does, about their knowledge of who the Mayor is and what he does, and crucially about what political parties are offering local people on issues that matter.

Frankly, the vast majority of people in Bow don’t actually care about what state small sections of Victoria Park are left in after LoveBox; they couldn’t give a damn if Lutfur Rahman was driving around in a gold plated stretch limousine; I would say that outside the Bengali community few would recognise him if he started doing his shopping on Roman Road. Their eyes glaze over if we start to talk about links between Baroness Warsi (who’s she? they will say) and the Mayor’s cronies; for them a cabinet is a piece of furniture not some committee sitting in the Town Hall.

What is terrifying is the fact that the very important issues around housing for example are simply not discussed. Within a decade, Housing Choice which was supposed to be small local housing associations taking over council estates in the borough, and improving the housing stock has become something completely different. Housing Choice was in many ways the precursor to “localism”, offering local residents more say in how their local communities were run. Yet within a few short years, while the chattering classes are busy with their gossip and internal factions, what has happened is these small local housing associations have been victim of what in the City of London would be deemed a successful hostile takeover bid.

Old Ford where I live is now managed through an office in Stratford, in the London Borough of Newham, ultimately answerable to a corporate head office in Norwich. In the Isle of Dogs I believe Swan Housing has upped and moved to Camden. Remember the golden days of little but effective organisations like Bethnal Green & Victoria Park HA? Does it frankly matter what local parties offer in terms of housing policy anymore? There is simply no democratic accountability or scrutiny of big decisions that impact on local people’s lives. I do not see any political party really getting their teeth into issues around accountability and scrutiny of public housing. This is a tragedy.

Instead it is total turn-off and irrelevant gossip. Just as in my days on Council the Liberals were led to try and find every bit of alleged dirt possible on essentially Bengali Labour councillors. Even now, I read with despair when I see it is reported that the Mayor and a councillor from Shadwell came to see my former ward colleague, Ray Gipson to backstab Labour’s Josh Peck. So what? Is this talking about important issues that actually matter to local people? There is an element of late night private meetings in smoke-filled rooms that still permeates Bangladeshi politics (I know, I lived there for some years). But these tales are irrelevant and pointless – apart from anything, a respected local man like Ray wasn’t even able to get his core vote out in 2006 to be re-elected, probably because the Liberals were unable to focus enough on policy but more on people. So I ask again does it matter whether the Mayor was backstabbing the Labour leader to an ex-Liberal councillor?

I see former councillors who I worked with, who never once spoke in council meetings, whose ability to fight for their wards was questionable, and as such were defeated, are then put up again as candidates in recent by-elections hoping that their ethnicity and kinship networks will win votes. Please local parties, stop treating the voters with contempt. Forget ethnicity and deal with policies then maybe we will have a more engaged more diverse electorate.

I am shown case work from serving councillors and I am frankly appalled. No supplementary follow-up. No getting to the core of the problems. I was trained in many ways by the late Cllr Bette Baunton, and she instilled in me the need to keep on the case until residents got a satisfactory result. It may have simply been about an overhanging branch or a ripping tap. But, if that meant dogged terrier-like determination so be it. What happened was a local resident and her immediate friends and neighbours were relieved and thankful. That is the bread and butter of local politics. What it certainly didn’t mean was trying to become some quasi-private detective delving into another culture’s deeply held familial and communal traditions and trying to expose it as wrong and flawed. This helps no one and certainly doesn’t help Tower Hamlets.

The borough is not worse off because of some alleged Bangladeshi conspiracy. It is because the elected reps in the main, no longer fight for local people on local issues. Rather they navel gaze, live in their Town Hall bubble and have simply forgotten that a local councillor is supposed to be a local champion – fighting on issues that matter on a day to day basis, not worrying if it is true that the Mayor’s second cousin’s wife’s uncle is actually a millionaire living on housing benefit.

By focussing on these ‘conspiracy-type stories’, we have turned off entire generations of voters. Of course were serious wrong doing takes place then I applaud you and your blog for exposing it. But could we not for once actually discuss policies rather than personalities? By focussing mainly with the latter we are on a dangerous road to a much divided community. Furthermore, I believe by ignoring the everyday concerns of people we are alienating them from ever voting again.

The political culture of Bangladesh is different from the political culture of England. The political culture of Somalia is different from the political culture of Jamaica. But there can be a unity in our diversity if once and for all local leaders stopped this puerile gossip and backstabbing and actually dealt with important day to day issues – jobs, poverty, housing, education, crime, health. Please stop trying to do a Miss Marple on certain councillors. Rather use this as an opportunity to expose the serious policy problems that affect the borough’s politics.

Involve residents once again – go out onto the streets and forget the bubble around the Town Hall and local party executives. By turning in on themselves, the councillors have shamefully allowed the key foundation of our borough, namely housing, to be removed from all democratic accountability and scrutiny.

Finally, regarding Ofcom and Channel S. While this channel may be popular among one section of our community, it is merely one of a handful of Bangla language channels. Ought we not be focussing our energies more on trying to figure out how to re-engage the other disillusioned sections of Tower Hamlets. The silent majority who currently do not vote. Engage them. Come up with discussions that will make them feel involved again, and I predict a much more diverse council, with many parties represented and local people feeling once again they have not been left out to dry.

Rant over. Back to my cave

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18 Responses

Really interesting observations. I do disagree with your point about Victoria Park, though. In fact, the park issue is almost the perfect illustration of your point: it’s exactly the sort of thing real people do see and care about.

That’s why I was moved to do that post on the post-Lovebox mess. It was real families making the complaints….and about the faceless politicians. They felt they weren’t being listened to. They said to me that they were glad “someone was listening and going to do something about it”.

And that was my point: to them, the mayor couldn’t give a stuff about the park, except for the income it brings in. That’s the disconnect you were talking about.

An interesting post and I am sure well meaning but at the same time incredibly naive. The buzzwords are all used in the right way but the political reality remains the same. Lufur Rahman has created a personal feudal fiefdom from which, with the possible exception of a criminal conviction, it is impossible for him to be removed from.

Like yourself I spend a lot of time out and about talking to people in Tower Hamlets because of various things that I am involved in.

You are correct when you say that the majority of the electorate have disengaged themselves from the political process and that is because the section that is disengaged is largely the white one which sees the borough being run a a small self serving clique of Bangladeshi councillors and their financial backers.

The party switching and floor crossing, with great protestations of moral indignation at the party just left, have reduced the council to the status of a third world country. Some current backers of Lutfur Rahman have been in all three parties. One went straight from Respect to the Tories and to their shame they accepted him. He left to go somewhere else shortly afterwards so it didn’t really matter!

When I was in the British Army I was taught that smaller forces of disciplined troops with good leadership and definite goals will always defeat larger opposing forces badly led with no clear objectives, especially when there is dissension within their leadership.

This was particularly clear at the recent Spitalfields and Banglatown by-election when the Mayoral nominee won by less than fifty votes. The Lib Dems, Tories and Greens engaged in vanity politics which wasted anti Lutfur votes that went nowhere and could have defeated him. All democratic forces in the borough have got to realise that the time for playing games is over. Tower Hamlets is not as other boroughs. The normal rules do not apply and it is about time that those involved in the game and role playing realised this.

The scenario , or should I say tragedy, being played out in Tower Hamlets is following the military pattern exactly. The Mayor has gathered around him a group of power brokers who control blocks of votes which they deliver in return for paid cabinet positions and grants to community organisations.

Almost all of the Bangladeshi media are on The Mayor’s payroll in one way or another, this is particularly true of the TV channels. Cracks are appearing in the printed media and are to be encouraged but what is important is that Lutfur Rahman starts to lose elections. That process was started when Labour held a seat in Weavers Ward a couple of weeks ago.

This happened in spite of their being no anti Lutfur Popular Front. What is needed now is the PP for democracy because what is happening in Tower Hamlets is a travesty which does not deserve that name.

Labour is wasting its time standing in the Isle of Dogs and the southern part of Limehouse. This is a Tory stronghold and will remain so. For the Tories to stand in other parts of the borough is simply, as I have said, vanity politics so that some prospective Parliamentary candidate can add the gallant loss to their CV.

The Greens should just carry on weaving their own yoghurt, they are irrelevant but take votes. The far loony left in Tower Hamlets is reduced to Stuart, bonkers, Madewell and can pretty much be dismissed although at a push they will always support Lutfur because he is against New Labour, an enemy greater than the Nazis ever were!

The unthinkable has to be thought. Electoral arrangements and tactical voting. Josh Peck has proved to be a useless leader of Labour and should be replaced. He has failed to take on board, or if he has, to tackle, the fact that at least three hundred and fifty members of his party are Lutfur Rahman’s place people.

A purge of the party is needed and he will not do it, he has to go. There then has to be a massive recruitment drive of younger idealistic Bangladeshis who are disgusted at what is going on. They are out there but need to be encouraged.

I would summarise the situation as this.

1) The situation in Tower Hamlets is unique in this country, and probably the Western World, in that a small group of Bangladeshi power brokers have used and are using their village and religious connections to override the normal democratic procedures that it has taken working class and democratic forces two centuries to forge.

2) We are almost in the situation of the ” rotten boroughs” that were first tackled in the Reform Act of1832 and culminated in the lowering of the voting age for all to 18.

3) Party politics have now become irrelevant in Tower Hamlets because of what is basically a constitutional coup by Jaamat I Islam and business backed elements along with village power brokers keeping Lutfur Rahman in power. That power could be permanent.

4) Phrases like ” engagement” “empowerment” ” reaching out” and ” inclusion” are irrelevant socio-babel faced with the IFE and Rahman’s deals with a business community that he can hand contracts to.

5) There are two alternatives. Either, on some technicality or other, central government steps in and shuts the whole show down or the democratic forces in the borough, committed to democracy and the rule of law, take a stand together. The former hasn’t happened so we must go for the latter.

6) Cross party talks, on whatever, basis must take place to work out a way of stopping the gradual destruction of local democracy in Tower Hamlets. The Tories and Labour must take the lead and then shame, for there can be no other word, the Lib Dems and the Greens into not standing.

I hope this post, somewhat long I know has been of some use. Let the discussion begin.

Well, that might be a trendy thing to do on some blogs and I am in no way defending his recent conviction (and he knows my views on that), but he has a long history in Tower Hamlets and there are many who would stick up for him on that, including Bangladeshis. I would suggest you read up on him and ask yourself whether you have such a record.

Mr. Fitzpatrick worked as a builder in the early ‘70s. He is regarded as the champion of the Bengali community in fighting anti-racism in East London and started the squatting movement around Brick Lane to accommodate people in empty flats.He is still very active in the anti-fascist movement and probably one of the few activists from the 1970s who stayed most constant to that cause. He speaks fluent Sylheti (Bengali) and is a regular contributor to ‘Searchlight’, a monthly magazine challenging racism and fasism (sic) in Britain and around the world.

Well, this is an unimpressive piece of hand-wringing. In my opinion the problems in the borough are pretty nearly insoluble without some modern Cromwell to deal with both the council and its officials:

You have sat too long for any good you have been doing lately … Depart, I say; and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!

Here are some of the ‘deep’ problems that won’t be fixed by casework or any exhortations for the proles [us] to re-engage:

spin, gives us all good cause to be cynical, since it seems to be the only concrete product of the LBTH and THH
mandate and choice of candidates, the current ‘mayor’ was not chosen by about 88% of the electorate
voting irregularity, persistent, endemic and never properly investigated, ever
leakage of religion into politics, due to the UKs lack of a a secular state but unchallenged here
partiality, favouritism and blocs mixed with political correctness, most of the council does not serve the broader community
incompetence, the levels of literacy and management ability are, with a few honourable exceptions, appalling
opacity, linked with spin, there’s never a clear, true answer to anything including FOI requests
very low standards of behaviour, including small scuffles, threats and abuse during official business

I could go on for another ten or so, but I think the point is probably made. As to the Lovebox [and petty crime/graffiti everwhere at the moment] thing, that’s important because it’s a small, concrete gesture. Tower Hamlets politicians and officials seem totally unable to do ‘stuff’ that would be the beginnings of confidence building. They do seem able to self-congratulate and spend money on consultants [see competence, above] endlessly though.

We are living in a failed borough, rather like a failed state but smaller and only the complete clear-out [think velvet or orange revolution rather than Tahir Square though] will solve it.

Excellent piece Nigel. There are sane and genuine people in our community. I am not white, nor a lib dem, but if you stood in my ward I would vote for you and campaign for you…I really hope more good people like you come forward instead of people driven by ideological hatred and foolishness. Lets judge people on policy and delivery. Ted take note!

I don’t think Nigel and I disagree. Sometimes you have to analyse why policies are not delivered or why promises are broken – and that inevitably involves people, factions and politics. Twas ever thus.

On a broader point, though, I think more independents should stand for council. And I mean genuinely independent.

Nigel thank you for taking the time and trouble to share your thoughts and experiences. It’s a perspective that is to be respected. There is a lot wrong with Tower Hamlets, we all know this! Still there is a lot right, many of us choose to live and work here and we feel that this gives us the right to be critical and challenging of those in power – whether we supported them or not. Like places people are fallable too.

This also means that racism, xenophobia, religious and other forms of prejudice and intolerance will manifest themselves in as many forms as the people that possess and practice them. I suppose, at the end its all about power – and the eternal struggle between between humans to show their dominance over others for what they feel is right. And the vast majority of extraordinary people in society are led or misled by the ordinary few who either lack the insights or are prevented for the common good.

From my ancient tradition of Bushido – where honour and integrity are more important than life itself. We find this ever spiraling descent into the fathomless depths of selfishness. This is the culture we have all contributed in creating in Tower Hamlets, as each day passes by divisions and distrust grow, as do the haves and have nots.

First of all I most definitely do not always disagree with Ted, and on the idea of more genuinely independents running for Council, I wholeheartedly agree. Party politics often sours local government – genuine community activists would be a breath of fresh air at a local level.

If I could just add a few final words to clarify my original post. Naive and unimpressive I may well be (thank you whitevanmanlondon and Hugh Barnard!) . I was simply trying to be helpful and raise the issue of what it is ordinary residents wish their elected representatives focussed on.

I am no longer a councillor, I am not even a candidate, I have no desire to ever be Mayor, and I most certainly have no ambitions of ever being an MP. I was simply trying to do what I always did as a cllr – regardless of the party line, I believed then, and believe now, any elected person in local government ought to try as best as possible to represent the concerns and aspirations of the people who voted them into office.

So, in Ted’s blog, perhaps not as eloquent or articulate as many of you, my aim was simply to give once more a voice to those who feel they have no voice.

Without fail I am out and about at various times in Bow, every single day. I talk to people – from all backgrounds, all races, all ages. Some born and raised here, some migrated here many decades ago, and some more recent arrivals. I can honestly say, hand on heart, I have never once heard a resident entering into a diatribe about the alleged corruption around the Mayor, his cronies, or even IFE and the East London mosque. Maybe Lutfur is too far-removed from Bow I honestly don’t know why he never comes up in conversation.

This Lutfur theme is, I will say once again, the obsession of the Tower Hamlets chattering classes to which the overwhelming majority of residents do not belong.

I am not saying Lutfur Rahman is a great Mayor, nor do I say he is an awful Mayor; indeed I am making no comment on his Mayoralty or the Council as a whole (cllrs and officers); and I certainly have nothing to say about what IFE does or what happens in wards like Whitechapel and/or Shadwell. But I would like to point out, when I was a councillor the bête noire was Helal Uddin Abbas the then Bangladeshi leader of Council.

So perhaps this chorus is a tad repetitive with simply the main characters changing? Who knows, but it does , I would maintain go a long way in ensuring the Bangladeshi community does remain communal and isolated – each and every time one of their members rises to a leadership role, the chattering classes harp on about corruption, failed borough, cronies getting plum jobs etc. This can only be frankly insulting to what are a proud people with their own strong cultural and different democratic traditions (…….one of which is that their elected leader SHOULD have a decent chauffeur driven car – bicycling, self-deprecating monarchs is a thing of Scandinavia not South Asia! Why try and change cultural norms?)

Back to the substance of what I am saying: never once do residents ever speak to me about the Mayor, about “corruption”, about money spent on chauffeur driven cars, about Bangla language biased TV reports, about the factions in every political party etc etc. The issues residents raise is their frustration with unaccountable housing associations no longer answering their simple questions – why has my service charge increased so much? Why are more local people not being employed as we expected to happen? Why are you moving out of the borough? Why do repairs take so long to be dealt with? Why are socially registered landlords not understanding that in times of recession it is punitive to increase rents so much for so little in return? Why is there a perception that crime is on the up? Where exactly did £12 million go on Victoria Park? And more worryingly “I don’t vote, what’s the point?”

So, trying to be helpful, listening and observing every single day, I say to the chattering classes and the political parties, look at the demographics, look at the abysmal turn out in local elections that do not coincide with general elections. It is not a great inditement of your role.

Go back to the drawing board, stop focussing on things that the everyday person has no interest in and come up with exciting policies on issues that people are talking about. Once people feel the political classes are reflecting their views and concerns then perhaps then may well be motivated to actually take 5 minutes once every 4 years to go and vote.

And please, stop saying “we need a Cromwell” or “we need central government to take the borough over”. Neither of these things can ever happen nor will ever happen. Period. Instead, start speaking about the issues ordinary people are worried about. It is to my mind as simple as that.
Currently they feel ignored and as such disenfranchised. Not because of the man who is Mayor, but because the classes that chatter are chattering over their heads and ignoring them.

Nigel you are fast developing a loyal supporter base. Honest, relatively unbiased assessment of the condition of the Bengalis, I’m not Bengali, but the entire Bengali community should not be tainted with the dishonest and hypocritical behavior of the political class that represents them. Yes they lie and cheat, yes many have entered the UK using less than legal means, yes many are benefit cheats…. But are they any different from any other community who too have their rotten eggs. What’s the difference between those Bankers who have embezzled billions. The difference, good readers is that the Bengalis have not brought Europe and quite possibly the world too it’s knees. Most descent people are struggling to earn an honest living – yet how can they when almost all those in positions of power and influence are just as bad as each other – be they Bankers, Politicians or Journalists. How can honest, descent and honorable men and women overcome layers of corrupt practices of these people – mostly they cannot. Invariably, they end up being changed – and we call this progress and progressive.

‘we needed someone like him in my ward and why didnt he blog sooner on here as he has got to the main point that to many voters, they just want better services and on the whole, dont give a crap, unfortunatley at times, about the stuff going on behind the scenes in Mulberry Place’.

Naive and unimpressive I may well be (thank you whitevanmanlondon and Hugh Barnard!) . I was simply trying to be helpful …wish their elected representatives focussed on.

This misses the larger point, just doing casework doesn’t solve the strategic problems in the borough. This is, basically, the Fitzpatrick approach, acquire votes by satisfying families and individuals, don’t rock any boats. Incidentally, ‘Helpful’ is a terrible word, by the way, it’s civil service duckspeak.

I am no longer a councillor, I am not even a candidate, I have no desire to ever be Mayor

So what this actually about then? If you want to do, then let’s.

I have never once heard a resident entering into a diatribe about the alleged corruption around the Mayor, his cronies, or even IFE and the East London mosque. Maybe Lutfur is too far-removed from Bow I honestly don’t know why he never comes up in conversation.This Lutfur theme is, I will say once again, the obsession of the Tower Hamlets chattering classes to which the overwhelming majority of residents do not belong.

That, I would class as naive and dangerous, one salient reason is the huge amount of pro-Mulberry spin pumped at our expense in violation of the council code for publicity and, almost certainly, [I don’t know any of the dialects] whatever’s happening in Channel S. Unhappily, people actually believe that East End Lies is a legitimate newspaper, because it looks like one.

one of which is that their elected leader SHOULD have a decent chauffeur driven car – a bicycling, self deprecating monarchs is a thing of Scandinavia not South Asia! Why try and change cultural norms?

Now, I’m afraid, we’re at the utter-rubbish and cognitive surrender level. We live in Tower Hamlets, London, UK where we witness the daily failure of ‘hard’ multiculturalism, we do not live in S-E Asia. May I have a ZIL lane, if I have a Russian surname? Point two: this money could be spend on something useful, point three: it doesn’t stop there since there’s [for example] a whole 120 thousand pound ‘communications suites’ where senior officials can enjoy the labours of Tacky [sic] Sulaiman. Point four: The EEL spend is probably around 1.5 million, we’ve never arrived at a true figure.

Back to the substance of what I am saying: never once do residents ever speak to me about the Mayor, about corruption, about money spent on chauffeur driven cars, about Bangla language biased TV reports, about the factions in every political party etc etc. The issues residents raise is their frustration with unaccountable housing associations no longer answering their simple questions: why has my service charge increased so much? Why are more local people not being employed as we expected to happen? Why are you moving out of the borough? Why do repairs take so long to be dealt with? Why are socially registered landlords not understanding that in times of recession it is punitive to increase rents so much for so little in return? Why is there a perception that crime is on the up? Where exactly did 12 million go on Victoria Park? And more worryingly I don’t vote, what’s the point?

Didn’t it occur to you that the two might, just might be linked? The linkage being the poisoned culture that I have represented [and so has whitevanman] in our original posts. If there’s an honest, transparent, competent, financially prudent, inclusive culture at the top of the pyramid [councillors, senior officials etc.], things will necessarily be better. That’s the lesson of failed states, one of the central failures is usually governance.

look at the abysmal turn out in local elections that do not coincide with general elections. It is not a great inditement of your role.

Actually, you mean endorsement not indictment, no comment. This is why I and others have campaigned [uselessly, of course, it would win every time] for a ‘none of the above’ box. Personally, I see no reason to vote for most of the popular polluted ‘brands’, so I agree.

Go back to the drawing board, stop focussing on things that the everyday person has no interest in and come up with exciting policies on issues that people are talking about.

That’s mainly mistaken and pure populism, but you do seem to understand that some strategic thought [policies] is needed. People are talking about the X-factor or its Channel S equivalent, because they have been trained to, for example. Incidentally, I agree, but we can do this, there’s no need to wait for the polluted major ‘brands’ [silly me, I mean ‘parties, don’t I!] to think up ‘exciting policies’, such as the usual jam-tomorrow.

And please, stop saying “we need a Cromwell” or “we need central government to take the borough over”. Neither of these things can ever happen nor will ever happen.

So you’re proposing chattering, but at a different level, about ordinary, day-to-day stuff with the common people (as in the song)? Both are important, actually. Both the Cromwell and central government are possible solutions, though, I agree with you, unlikely, however chattering, even with the ‘people’, isn’t a solution. If you’re serious about this, show us, set up some meetings for the start of a velvet/orange revolution respecting the Nolan principles. We probably won’t always agree with you, but we’re ready for something else…